Maestrano Group PLC (LON:MNO), the open cloud business integration platform with cross-app data synchronization, is pleased to announce the admission today of its ordinary shares to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange. Dealings in the ordinary shares will commence at 8.00am under the ticker MNO and ISIN number of GB00BYZQM590. Arden Partners was sole bookrunner for the Placing and is acting as Broker to the Company. Grant Thornton is acting as Nominated Adviser.
CEO Stephane Ibos talks to DirectorsTalk about its successful admission to London AIM. Stephene provides some details and background on the company, explains how its data management platform works, how significant the market opportunity is, why they choose to float on AIM, how the proceeds will be used and what we can expect from Maestrano in the year ahead.
Maestrano offers a data sharing platform for enterprises to engage with their SME clients. Once implemented to an enterprise’s branding and specification, Maestrano’s platform allows SMEs to seamlessly move information between commonly used cloud-based applications, such as accounting and CRM software. The SME saves time, effort and gains efficiency, while the enterprise benefits from key data insights and customer retention.
PLACING STATISTICS
|
Placing Price per ordinary share |
15 pence |
|
Gross proceeds of the Placing |
£6 million |
|
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following Admission |
80,040,331 |
|
Market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price |
£12 million |
Highlights:
Maestrano is a software company which develops and deploys a patented Cloud based Platform as a Service that addresses the needs of Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) and large Enterprises (such as major banks and global accounting firms) to access real time, automated management data efficiently on an integrated Platform. This technology is called Master Data Management (MDM).
Maestrano was established in Sydney, Australia in 2013 by Stephane Ibos and Arnaud Lachaume, both formerly from the defence technology industry, to provide an integrated suite of SaaS applications targeted directly at SMBs. Since inception, Maestrano has refined its go to market approach, to focus on supplying SMBs via an Enterprise channel model. This approach allows Maestrano to access a substantial base of SMB users via the established international brands of its Enterprise clients.
To enable the Group to fund the development of its patented technology, the Group raised AU$7.4 million over three investment rounds from institutional and private investors. This funding allowed the Group to attract high quality staff and establish sales and development teams in London, Sydney, New York and Dubai and begin deliveries of its MDM platform.
Maestrano Group Plc has secured seven key Enterprise clients over the last 3 years and the Directors believe the Company will benefit from significant growth in the short term as these Enterprise clients roll out their Platforms to their broad SMB customer base.
Reasons for Admission
The Directors believe Maestrano is now well positioned to scale the business substantially. The Company is seeking admission to AIM in order to raise new equity capital to provide funding for growth. The Directors also believe that Admission will help raise the Group’s profile with potential customers and enhance the recruitment and retention of staff.
The Company has raised £6 million in a fully subscribed placing, to further develop the Group’s operations and to support existing and future contracts.
Total voting rights
The total number of Ordinary Shares in the Company in issue immediately following Admission will be 80,040,331 each with equal voting rights. The total voting rights figure can be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change of their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure, Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Commenting on the admission, Stephane Ibos, CEO, said “We are delighted with the success of our AIM admission and associated capital raising, which now positions the company with the means to execute its business plan, service clients and accelerate growth. The AIM journey began when we participated in a UK Department of International Trade Fintech mission to London. We quickly recognised the outstanding support provided for emerging companies in the UK and the benefits of being listed on AIM, it has been a great experience and we look forward with excitement and confidence.”
Michael Ward, British Consul General and Director General, UK Department for International Trade, Australia and New Zealand said: “We’ve been proud to support Maestrano with their UK expansion over several years so we are really delighted with the news of their listing on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM. We look forward to assisting their future plans and ongoing growth in the UK. Success of innovative fintechs like Maestrano should encourage other Australian companies to look at the UK for growth and with the new UK-Australia Fintech Bridge now in place there has never been a better time.”